


Complications

by Lady_Layla



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Angst, Blood, But then the person wanted angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Matt is a little bit dense, Miscarriage, This started out as fluff, is mentioned but not in graphic detail, it ends in fluff, so I'm here to rip your heart out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 04:50:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8432485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Layla/pseuds/Lady_Layla
Summary: It's not unusual for Frank to stop by Karen's new place for her to patch him up. Until tonight that is...tonight everything is different.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mymermaidstory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mymermaidstory/gifts).



> This is my gift exchange for themagnetprotectingstarksheart over on tumblr!

“Shit”

He’s popped his stitches again and he’s going to need Page to fix them up...again.

Frank tenses a little at the thought of the chewing out she’ll give him this time. Really, he could stop going to see her when he gets hurt, stop climbing her fire escape but damn if she doesn’t remind him of Maria.

And damn if he isn’t falling a little bit more for Karen Page every time he sees her.

He shoves that thought away to be examined later, when he’s laying on the dirty mattress in his hideout with Lucky curled against him and he can’t sleep.

For now, he finds himself in front of her fire escape and he starts climbing it slowly so he doesn’t pull the rest of the stitches.

As he approaches Karen’s window, his hand raised to tap on it, he can hear something.

A low keening coming from inside, like an animal that’s hurt itself.

Followed by a hysterical sobbing.

Karen.

Shit.

His first thought is to break into her window, but his voice of reason (that sounds a lot like his wife) kicks in. She was expecting him tonight.

The window slides up and he slips into the apartment. Quietly, just in case he needs to sneak up on anyone.

The noise is coming from her room and Frank keeps his tread light and silent, a gun out and ready.

He peers around the corner and feels himself freeze at the scene before him.

Karen is sitting up in her bed, sobbing hysterically, and the sheets around her are coated in blood. A lot of blood.

What in the hell.

He drops the gun back into a pocket of his jacket and strides into the room.

Karen looks up and her wailing begins anew when she sees him.

Frank hurries to her side and sits close, careful to avoid the blood.

“Shh. Shhhh. It’s okay, Ma’am. It’s going to be okay.”

Karen shakes her head violently against him and between sobs she speaks. Says the words he knew were coming (he was a father once. He knew a little about the fears of pregnant women).

“There was a baby, Frank. It’s...it’s gone.”

It feels like ice in his veins and all of a sudden he’s having a flashback to the birth of Frank Jr. He can hear his wife’s screams as she pushes and all he can do is hold her hand, hope that she and the baby make it.

“It’s okay. I’m going to get help, Ma’am. Just...you need to hang on, it might be alright.”

“It’s not alright, Frank!” She screams at him before the sobs take over again.

“There’s too much blood. It’s not going to be okay.”

Frank doesn’t know what to say to that so he just gets up, strides into the living room where he digs through her purse for her phone and scrolls through the numbers.

He hesitates for a minute scrolling between two numbers before finally picking one and dialing.

It takes three attempts for the person to pick-up on the other side and they answer with a hesitant:

“Karen?”

“Not Page, Red.”

“Frank? Why do you have Karen’s phone.”

“She’s in trouble.”

He can hear the man on the other side, suddenly alert, start to scramble around. No doubt looking for his red suit.

“Why didn’t she call me? What did you do to her.”

Frank scoffs.

“Wasn’t me. Listen, Red, it ain’t a red suit kind of a problem.”

Matt freezes on the other side of the line.

“What do you mean?”

“Miss Page...well, she was expecting.”

“Expecting what?”

“You know. Expecting.”

He’s trying to keep his voice low so Karen can’t hear but he wonders if Red has always been this stupid.

“Frank, just spit it out. Who was she expecting? Someone who worked for Fisk?”

“Jesus, Red. She was pregnant.”

He’s a little too loud and Karen utters a scream from the bedroom causing him to wince.

“Was?”

He sighs and lowers his voice to a hiss. “Red, if I have to explain to you why I’m using past tense you’re a fucking moron. Now, I need you to call your nurse friend, get her over here ASAP. Miss Page needs to get to a hospital and she’s in shock. I can’t take her.”

Matt grunts.

“Right. Right. I’ll call Claire now.”

And he hangs up without even a goodbye or a ‘thanks for the help Frank’.

Tossing the phone back into her purse, he shucks his over coat and kevlar.

Removes his boots and he’s glad it’s warmer out so he didn’t bother with a long sleeved shirt.

He has no idea what to do so he just scrubs himself clean in her bathroom, slaps a bandage over the popped stitches, and heads back into the bedroom.

Karen’s quieter now, just a sniffle or two, and on a second look there really isn’t as much blood as he thought.

Resuming his place next to Karen, he pulls her close to him and runs his fingers through her hair while he murmurs nonsense.

It’s maybe 45 minutes later when he hears a knock at the door and hauls himself up to answer it.

Claire Temple is standing on the other side of it, looking less put upon and exasperated this time. She moves past him and into the bedroom where she starts talking to Karen in a low voice.

Not sure if he should go back, if he’s wanted, he rifles around Karen’s cupboards hunting for the coffee and tea things.

Now it hits him, why she’s been drinking tea recently and not coffee.

It really hits him. Karen was pregnant.

Damn.

His mind wonders back to thoughts of his own children for a while as he goes through the motions of making a pot of coffee and heating the water in Karen’s new kettle.

They’d actually talked about kids a few weeks ago.

The pregnancy must have been why she’d brought it up.

She’d confided that she’d never really wanted kids, but if she had any she was going to keep them.

He thinks he finally understands the look she’d gotten when he said kids weren’t in the cards for him a second time.

She had tried to argue, tell him he wasn’t a monster, but she didn’t really understand. At least not then.

Frank Castle couldn’t bear to have more children. He just couldn’t do it.

He had long ago accepted that maybe another relationship would be alright, probably not another marriage, but Maria would want him to move on.

But he doesn’t think he could ever move on from his kids without it killing him.

He is jerked from his thoughts by Claire appearing at his side. He offers her a mug and she goes about fixing her coffee.

“She’ll be okay.”

That makes him frown. “Don’t we need to get her to the hospital?”

Claire shakes her head. “No, women have natural miscarriages at home all the time. She’ll be having cramps and a regular period will start soon but I think she passed everything. If she wants she can go for a check-up this week and have an ultrasound done to double check her womb is empty.

He’s just nodding along to her words a little stunned.

A sound from the back of the apartment makes her head snap up and she lowers her voice.

“I need you to help me. I’m going to put her sheets and clothes in a bag and take it with me.”

Frank’s mouth drops a little and he starts to protest.

“Ew. Not for any creepy reason, you ass. I don’t want Karen to have to deal with it and get upset again.”

She waits for his nod to pull out a trash bag and he follows her back to the bedroom.

Claire hands him the bag to hold open, because she’s the one wearing gloves, and bundles up everything on Karen’s bed and the clothing she left on the floor.

Once that’s done she drops the gloves in and takes the bag from him.

“She’ll need rest. A lot of it so don’t let her go to work for a few days. If she gets a fever or shows any sign of infection bring her to the hospital or call for an ambulance.”

After Claire leaves Frank pokes around to find a spare set of sheets (he’s lucky Karen seems to have another set that aren’t thick for winter) and remakes her bed.

“Frank?”

The door to the bathroom is cracked open and he turns towards it.

“Ma’am?”

“Do you mind making me tea while I get dressed?”

“’Course not.”

He heads back into the kitchen and tries not to think about Karen naked in the bedroom. He shouldn’t be thinking about it because of what just happened and he shoves any images to the back of his mind.

Not the time.

He finishes her tea. She hasn’t been drinking it long enough for him to know exactly how she likes it so he guesses, before bringing it back to her.

She’s back in bed, although she’s not sitting up anymore, and she looks so tired.

Frank sets the tea on her nightstand.

“Are you okay?”

The question surprises him.

“Me?”

“I assume you were coming here to get patched up again.”

He grunts.

“Popped a few stitches but I’ll live.”

They’re silent for a little bit but he speaks again.

“Listen, I should head back. I gotta let Lucky out and feed him for the night.”

He is already half way to the living room to put his gear back on when he hears her voice, so soft he isn’t sure he’s meant to hear it.

“You stay.”

Turns towards the bed again.

“Please.”

Frank sighs and gets his own phone out. The owner of the building is as old as the hills and fairly blind, but she adores Frank and Lucky. She’ll take care of him.

“Of course, Ma’am.”

Although he doesn’t really know what he’s doing now.

“Frank, will you sleep with me?”

He’s never heard her voice so timid, so weak, and instead of answering he removes his dirt stained and blood crusted pants, leaving him in his boxers and tank top before he heads back over to the bed.

She’s holding the sheet up for him and as soon as he’s settled in, she’s snuggled up against him and he wraps his arm around her shoulders.

He’s slowly starting to drift off when he hears her whisper:

“Thank you, Frank.”

“Anything for you, Ma’am.”

She leans up and presses a soft kiss to the underside of his jaw before laying back down.

He can feel her breathing even out into sleep but once again he’s wide awake. He knows Karen and she’s probably going to try and push this under the rug. Act like it doesn’t affect her and keep going.

Frank Castle looks at the woman sleeping in his arms and he can hear Maria’s voice as clearly as if she was standing over him.

“Frank you look after that girl, do you hear me? She needs you and you need her.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Because there is nothing else he can say to Maria Castle when she’s using that tone of voice, even if it’s just inside of his head.

Besides, he can’t leave Karen Page, not even if his life depends on it.

**Author's Note:**

> [ My Tumblr ](http://www.artemisgarden.tumblr.com)


End file.
